


Caffeine Confusion

by thorxbruce



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - College/University, Barista Dean Winchester, M/M, Meet-Cute, it's cute i promise, short and sweet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-07
Updated: 2020-02-07
Packaged: 2021-02-28 00:55:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,324
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22595143
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thorxbruce/pseuds/thorxbruce
Summary: Prompt: Dean is the barista at a coffee shop and always screws up Cas' name on purpose.
Relationships: Castiel/Dean Winchester, Dean Winchester & Sam Winchester
Comments: 1
Kudos: 142





	Caffeine Confusion

Tuesday

The campus was basically dead with everyone skipping their late tuesday classes to drive home or just away for Thanksgiving break. Everyone except Castiel, it seemed. However, instead of wallowing in his dorm room like Gabriel predicted he would do, Castiel decided to take a nice walk over to the coffee shop in the main library on campus. He’d heard good reviews from his classmates and decided it was time for him to caffeinate and do a bit of studying for finals. 

He entered the bottom floor and was immediately hit with the coffee smell and a slight hint of desperation. It only took a split second to locate the cafe and then the student was beelining there. The barista was turned around, messing with a coffee machine. Castiel waited there for a moment, not wanting to interrupt whatever he was doing. 

After about a minute, the barista turned around and Castiel was floored by how cute he was. “Sorry about that! This guy’s being a bit finicky today.” 

Castiel found his voice again and shrugged it off. “I’m in no rush, so no big deal.” 

Dean, his nametag read, smiled in relief. “Thank you for that. Now, what can I get for you?” 

“Can I get a large soy latte please?” Dean nodded and wrote it down on the cup, asking for a name after. “Castiel.” Dean thought on the name for a second before smiling and scribbling on the cup once more. 

“Alright it’ll just be a minute.” The student nodded and waited, pulling out his phone and checking his Instagram timeline. He noticed Dean rounding back to the counter with the cup in hand and put his phone back in his pocket. “Here you go!” 

Castiel took the cup and smiled, bidding Dean goodbye and going up to the second level. After pulling out his notebook and laptop, he took a closer look at the cup, noticing it had “CATSTYLE” written in neat uppercase. 

So he decided, he had to go back. To correct his name of course. No other reason. 

Wednesday

The same time as the previous day, Castiel packed up his books and strolled to the library. He’d finished all of the studying he really needed to do for the week, so his coffee run was just that: a coffee run. And a chance for Dean to get his name right, but that’s beside the point. 

“Good afternoon,” he smiled at Dean when he entered. 

Dean smiled and it lit up the room. “Good afternoon Cas. What can I get for ya?” 

Oh - a nickname? That obviously wasn’t a shortened version of “catstyle” so now the confusion hit. 

“Large soy latte please. How are you today?” Cas leaned his hands on the counter and smiled warmly at the barista. 

Dean shrugged and began mulling around to make the drink. “Pretty slow. Most everyone’s gone and everyone who isn’t gone is asleep. You?”

“Mostly tired. I did my studying last night so today I just cleaned and now I have no responsibilities until classes next week.” He let out a happy sigh at that and felt his shoulders relax. 

“Not going home?” Dean asked, tilting his head a bit. 

“No. I have to fly and my parents and I agreed that I would stay over Thanksgiving and go back for fall and winter break. What about you?” 

“My mom, dad, and little brother are coming tomorrow morning and staying at my apartment. They wanted to get out of Kansas for a little while.” Cas nodded thoughtfully. “One soy latte for Castle?” 

Cas accepted the coffee with a smile, “It’s Castiel.” 

Dean winked, “I know.” 

Monday

Sadly, the cafe had been closed thursday through sunday, so Cas had a whole four days to ruminate on the fact that the handsome barista was deliberately misspelling his name. Was it because he thought it was weird, was it to not misspell it, was it to be silly? The questions clouded Castiel’s mind and he was bouncing with excitement on his way to the library. 

“Good afternoon Dean,” he smiled when he reached the counter. Since classes were fully back in motion, the cafe was a bit busier, now having about ten people populating the room instead of just Dean and Castiel. 

“Hey Cas,” Dean said, sighing. “Soy latte?” 

Cas nodded, tilting his head. “Yes please. Is everything ok Dean?” 

Dean mulled around, shrugging and focusing on the coffee. “Just stressed and getting ready for finals. How was your weekend?” 

“Boring, I watched a couple of movies though. What finals do you have?” 

Dean looked up as if he was trying to remember. “Intro to mechanical engineering, physics, history and… I think that’s it. You?” 

“Biology, mass communications and math.” 

The barista handed the coffee across the counter across the counter, “For Casper?” 

Cas squinted but accepted the coffee anyways. “You are aware that my name is Castiel.” 

Dean smiled widely, “I’m very aware. Angel of Thursday, yeah?” 

The student raised his eyebrows, “How did you know that?” 

Looking down a blushing, Dean messed with a loose string on his apron. “My little brother was big into mythology and told me about it over the weekend...” 

Cas thought the way that Dean’s walls broke for just a moment was the most endearing thing he’d ever seen. And he wanted more of that. “Have you been talking to your brother about me?” He put his hand over his chest with a mock gasp and a smile. 

Dean shook his head with a smile, still not lifting it up. “Shaddup, man.”

Smiling, Cas brought the coffee to his lips and took a big sip. He and Dean stood in comfortable (almost) silence before Cas thought of something else he had been curious about. “Do you work here everyday?” 

Dean shook his head and mulled about behind the counter, cleaning up random things. “Nah, I’m off thursdays and weekends. Do you work at all?” 

“No, my family thought it best that I stay jobless until I’m at least living off campus. I guess they thought it would stress me out a bit too much.” 

They made comfortable conversation for a few more minutes before more customers began filtering in and Cas thought it best if he slipped out. 

Tuesday

Another day of Dean working meant another large soy latte. In all honesty, Castiel wasn’t a big fan of the coffee itself - it was basically dining hall coffee - but he would probably drink motor oil if it meant he got to hang out with Dean for a couple minutes every afternoon. 

“I’m starting to worry about your caffeine consumption, Cas,” Dean said upon his entering. 

The man in question just rolled his eyes playfully with a huff. “I could always just go to the Starbucks in the student center,” he pointed his thumb over his shoulder back at the door and began slowly backing away. 

“No! No need for that. Large soy latte?” Dean said with an almost-too-bright smile. Castiel nodded and leaned his hip on the counter. “Ready for finals?” 

“Yeah, I’m not too worried. You?” 

Dean shrugged, “As prepared as I can be now. Gonna cram a bit next week and really stress myself out.” Cas hummed in agreement and waited in silence as Dean finished his coffee. “Soy latte for Cadillac?” 

Cas rolled his eyes once more, a habit he’d really picked up on since meeting Dean. “I think that’s your worst one yet.”

“And I think you’re biased.” Dean leaned his elbows on the counter, smiling cheekily at the freshman. 

“Well thank you for the coffee, Dan. Maybe I’ll venture elsewhere tomorrow.” 

Dean looked offended, “Betrayal. Absolute betrayal.” Castiel just laughed and said a quick goodbye to Dean, who looked moderately anxious about something.

Cas would later realize that something was Dean’s number with “angel of thursday, how about you let me take you out then?” Next to his name, fully written out.


End file.
